Travelling with Your Dogs this Christmas

Travelling with your dog over the Christmas holidays is a great way to include your best friends in your end of year celebrations. Some important things to bear in mind are warm weather safety and car safety.

Warm weather safety tips

Dogs are less efficient than humans at regulating their body temperature in warm weather. Dogs only sweat minimally through their nose and paw pads.

Their primary mechanism for cooling is to pant. This allows the moisture on their tongue, airway and lungs to evaporate, providing heat exchange between their overheated body and the ambient air.

Unfortunately this is not the most efficient cooling mechanism, so it is important to take steps to prevent your dog from overheating, especially in the height of an Australian summer.

Precautions:

Ensure your dog has access to clean, cool drinking water. Some dogs will try to dig in their water bowl when hot, so make sure they can’t spill the bowl, or provide several bowls in different locations.

Provide a shallow paddle pool for your dog to splash around or lay down in

Try to limit your dog’s exercise to cooler times of day such as early morning or late afternoon.

Provide access to comfortable, shady resting spots, or bring them indoors to share your air conditioning.

On very hot days, give your dog a “pupsicle”.

Never leave your dog in the car on a hot day, as temperates can rise to dangerous levels very quickly.

Risk factors for heat stress:

Some dogs are at higher risk of suffering heat stress than others due to various physiological features that make them less efficient at regulating their own body temperature. If your dog has one or more of these risk factors, you should take particular care in monitoring your dog’s environment and looking out for symptoms of heat stress.

Car travel and dogs

Safety first

Just like humans, dogs should wear seat belts to protect them from injury in the event of an accident. Invest in a good quality car harness which can be attached to the car’s seatbelts. Having your dog properly restrained in the car will also reduce potential driver distractions. As with small children, dogs should not ride in the front passenger seat due to the risk of injury from an air bag deployment.

Car sickness

Some dogs that don’t travel in the car very often may suffer from car sickness, which makes long journeys unpleasant for everyone involved. You may be able to improve matters by starting off with short car trips and gradually building up to longer journeys. This will also help to reduce the “anxiety factor” which may contribute to their car sickness.

Note that many puppies have car sickness which they simply “grow out of”. If possible, avoid taking a young puppy on very long drives.

Take regular driving breaks to allow your dog to stretch its legs, have a drink of water and eliminate. This will make them more comfortable during the drive and less prone to car sickness.

An old wive’s tale with anecdotal evidence is that ginger biscuits help to reduce car sickness in dogs. The required dosage would vary based on your dog’s body weight. A small dog may benefit from half a ginger biscuit while a larger dog may need one or two to have an effect.

In severe cases, consult with your veterinarian, as medications may be available which can help.

Dog Travel Essentials

car safe harness and seatbelt

plenty of fresh water and a no-tip water bowl

a familiar bed, blanket or toy to make them feel more secure in their new surroundings